The present invention relates to an improvement to devices for moving one body relative to another, in particular those which have advantageous applications in making systems for implanting in the human body or the like.
A device for moving one body relative to another is already known, in particular from document WO 96/15377 in the name of the Applicant, which device is advantageously applied to making systems that are implantable in the human body or the like.
The device described in that prior document gives good results. Nevertheless, the present invention seeks to improve that device, enabling its structure to be made more compact and its strength to be even greater, and making it easier to manufacture using commonplace means both in industrial production and for particular circumstances. Another object of the present invention is to improve the device of the above-specified prior document by enabling users to be informed by means of a simple signal of progress in the displacement of one body relative to the other while avoiding any need to make use of external means for verification purposes such as X-rays, and enabling the two bodies to be positioned relative to each other even more accurately during their displacements, and which is suitable for being controlled by an apparatus that is simple to make, and small in size, regardless of the ordinary application under consideration.
More precisely, the present invention provides a device for displacing a first body relative to a second body, the device comprising: first and second parts, means for applying a force between said first and second parts, a projecting portion, means for connecting said projecting portion to the first part, a cavity made in the second or other part, said cavity being complementary in shape to at least a fraction of said projecting portion, the second part in which said cavity is made being of a first material suitable for passing from a non-deformable first state to a deformable semisolid second state, and vice versa, the non-deformable solid state being a state in which said projecting portion cannot deform said first material under drive from said force, and the deformable semisolid state being a state in which said projecting portion is capable, under drive from said force, of penetrating into said first material so that said first material creeps around said projecting portion, while the first part carrying said projecting portion is made of a second material that is substantially non-deformable, said first and second parts being mounted to move relative to each other in such a manner that said first portion penetrates into said cavity, and means for controlling the transition of the portion of first material surrounding said cavity from said first state to the second, and vice versa, the device being characterized by the fact that said projecting portion forms a closed loop made of an electrically conductive material which completely surrounds a magnetic core, which core is not completely surrounded by the means for connecting said projecting portion to the first part.